When I was sinking down with grief, the weight of regret heavy
When I was wandering in darkness, stretching for the light
But thinking the distance was too far
Jesus came, forgave
When I am weary, no strength to find
When I am wondering how we all will survive
Thinking the world is too far gone
Jesus comes, strengthens, reminds
When He knows that the time has come
When He summons His beloveds home
When He appears and the heavens rejoice
Jesus is coming, is redeeming, is forever with us.
c2023 Lisa Lyons
Hallelujah! What a Savior.
Blessings, Lisa
Postscript: If you need to know Jesus, find forgiveness, no matter what, read the Bible, start with the book of John. He is there. He will make Himself known to you, and your empty places will be filled. Write to me if you need help in locating a Bible.
When my dear Nannie was in her 90s, she would call herself an “old stick.” We would always lovingly tell her that she was definitely not an old stick and that she was beautiful. That God still had a purpose for her. We talked a lot about how she could pray for people. That she had the time and the heart to do so. And I know she did. Nannie loved her God, loved her church, and loved her family. And so she prayed to her heavenly Father as she sat in her chair. She was a fruitful, beautiful branch attached to the Vine.
Sometimes I feel hopeless in many situations. What can I do? What can possibly help? The only thing that can help many times is prayer. Turning that person or situation over to Jesus our Shepherd.
When you don’t know what to do, pray. If you don’t know God, pray. Ask Him to show you that He is real. He will.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5
The time has come to choose. The time for sitting comfortably neutral is long over.
Good vs. evil. Right vs. wrong. God vs. Satan. Heaven vs. Hell.
I think we can all feel it. There is a battle raging.
The students at Asbury College are feeling it. They have had a nonstop prayer service since their last Wednesday chapel service. Revival. Choosing God, choosing peace, choosing repentance. Students tired of the evil, seeking the comfort and Truth of God’s Holy Spirit. And He is there.
The news reports are a far cry from the peace of that chapel. Crime, perversion, sin are overwhelming and sickening. The wrong is being forced for mass consumption. The days are far from Walter Cronkite, from protecting the innocence of our children.
Think back to when you were young. Maybe you lay beneath a tree in the soft grass and looked with wonder at the leaves above you. Maybe you flew high on a swing and felt as if you could fly up into the heavens. Maybe you looked at the clouds in awe and made pictures in your imagination. Maybe you swam in the sea and felt the waves and the sand and the wind. Good things, God things, that filled you with wonder and truth and innocence.
Choose God. Choose Jesus. Choose a future that is good and peaceful and eternal.
A pipe burst in our laundry room this weekend. Water everywhere. Workmen in and out. Renovations ahead. Stress, noise, and mess. Romantic anniversary and valentine weekend, huh? š
But a wondrous and quite unexpected thing has happened. I am cleaning out the laundry room, the shelves, the mess, the squirreling storage. And as I clean, I find treasures, discard trash, re-evaluate what is needed and what is not.
And I feel free. Lighter, even though I have just begun. A new start. A clean slate.
Hence, the photograph…..my trash bags sitting beside the beautiful azalea my wonderful husband brought me for our 35th anniversary. Chaos beside the beauty. The commencing of our 36th year together.
I also feel Christ nudging me with the same message. I will help you find a new start, a commencing of sorts, in this mess. Life is hard, yes. Life is messy and stressful, yes. But I have overcome this world.
āIf we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in thisĀ worldĀ can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we wereĀ madeĀ forĀ another world.ā – C.S. Lewis
I love to travel. There is nothing quite so thrilling to me as planning an adventure, booking the flights, the car, the airbnb’s. The feeling of losing touch with the ground as the airplane lifts. Looking down through the clouds at the new unexplored ground as you arrive. Driving on unfamiliar roads, eating new foods, talking to new people who see the world a little differently than I do. Being totally away from the day-to-day problems.
And then the feeling of coming home after the adventures. The feeling of comfort as you drive up the driveway, the familiar farmhouse looking at you kindly as if to say, ‘Where have you been?’, sleeping in a familiar comfortable bed again. The appreciating the familiar after the exoticness of the unknown.
The yearning, as I call it, comes on strong. I read this quote on a friend’s page yesterday, and it resonated with me.
All this yearning, longing, striving, is us yearning, longing and striving for our real home. For heaven. For Christ. To see Him face to face, to have all the wrongs made right, to feel true peace, to have this upside-down world put right side up.
It will come. He is coming again for those who love Him. We will be transported, and it will be the adventure of our lives.
Be His, Lisa
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
Think About These Things 